Saturday, March 19, 2011

Too Many Birds At Ding Darling NWR

The title of this post is made in jest while it's somewhat accurate with regard to my perceptions for bird photography at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge of late.

The Great Egret with White Ibis above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

Of course, an early morning visit to the refuge at a low tide is the ideal time to be here for wildlife observation.

At that time, the rising sun will be for the most part behind you as you make your way along Wildlife Drive.

The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

To clarify earlier comments made related to the importance of the tidal conditions, it is best to arrive at Ding Darling four to five hours after a low tide at Matanzas Pass timing a visit as close to sunrise as possible.

The time of an ideal low tide will vary depending on the time of year of your visit.

The Ring-billed Gull above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

Biting sand gnats can be a nuisance at the Refuge as I've observed in virtually all of my visits, so you may want to have an insect repellent with DEET available.

Please note that if viewing the exif data for any of the photographs taken this week that I failed to change the time ahead an hour in my camera.

The White Pelican above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

I've observed the tide to change this many hours after the low at Water Control Structure 2 with predictability.

My last three visits to the Refuge have been particularly overwhelming in the wildlife seen.

The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

This smacks in the face of commentary I've been told or read that there has been a reduction in wildlife observations made in recent years across the state of Florida.

I've given some thought to this perception and what the explanation for it may be.

The White Pelican above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

I have been diligently observing wildlife in southwest Florida for about four years with 12 favorite venues that I visit as regularly as possible.

The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

So what might be the cause for such a negative perception of a wildlife decline?

I can think of a few things that may have different degrees of relevance.

The Great Egret above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

Foremost is perhaps the unprecedented back to back hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 when hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne in '04 and Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in '05 undoubtedly devastated countless nesting colonies.

Hurricane Charley is particularly noted as having changed the ecology and topography of Ding Darling NWR.

The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

Hurricane activity in Florida has fortunately been subdued in more recent years giving wildlife the opportunity to recover with more favorable conditions.

Abnormally cold weather the last two winters has possibly impacted birds favorably in Florida with the '09-'10 fish kill when wading birds gorged themselves earlier than they typically do when water levels are at there lowest before the start of the rainy season.

The Great Egret above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

A comment overheard by a volunteer at Ding Darling noted however that rainfall, whether plentiful or not, has not been a cause of the failure of Wood Stork nesting colonies at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary the last couple of years to the extent that cold weather has been.

Wood Stork have been seen in the Fort Myers area with frequency this winter (though not this past week), particularly at Ding Darling NWR and Harns Marsh Preserve.

The Pied-billed Grebe above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

In addition to the above speculated uncontrollable forces, I've made observations that have negative impacts from moment to moment.

Most recently was an observation of a few young kids at Estero Lagoon that were running into a flock of resting birds near the surf.

The playful activity above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in February 2011.

This event reminded me of kids doing the same on the flats at Lovers Key State Park at New Pass with much greater numbers of birds impacted a few years ago.

The lack of parental supervision is disappointingly seen with positive efforts made at Ding Darling noted recently as a bus load of kids passing by were heard educated about the wildlife they could see.

The Pied-billed Grebe above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

The education about wildlife has been made in the form of questions like, "What do you see?"

On occasion I've also observed pets that are allowed to run unrestrained by their owners with the dogs as expected attempting to play with wildlife which reacts as you might expect.

The White Ibis above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

I'm not sure the impact of exotic pet release or hunting, but these factors may have notable impact for observations of wildlife as well.

Florida has allowed the hunting of snakes in the Everglades this past year.

The Belted Kingfisher above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

I've encountered an abundance of wildlife during my visits to the venues mentioned in this post with very rare exception.

Ding Darling NWR was my sole focus this week devoting much time along Wildlife Drive at my favored observation point at WCS2 with numerous observations made that were no less than extraordinary.

The Little Blue Heron juvenile above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

As was normal in the moon's cycle, the favored low tides had been getting higher and later in the morning each day.

I believe this was the cause of fewer birds seen overall on each successive visit to the refuge while the most recent visit I found to be the most memorable.

The Pied-billed Grebe above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

A Swallow-tailed Kite was seen for the first time this season as it gracefully circled above.

Toward the west near mid-morning I thought I observed smoke rising into the sky, but it was thousands of Tree Swallows upon closer inspection.

The Swallow-tailed Kite above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

There were many opportunities to observe feeding behavior, overflights of birds, and the mere daily routine of the interesting avian creatures.

I was able to photograph for the first time the double crest of a cormorant which is not an easy thing to do even considering how abundant this species is in the area.

The Tree Swallow with egret above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

An adult Snowy Egret was not tolerant of a juvenile that was within its territory.

A distinctive waterfowl observed flying with a pair of Mottled Duck would be identified as the rarely seen Northern Shoveler at the Refuge.

The Northern Shoveler above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

And perhaps the most exhilarating experience was an overflight of about a hundred Willet that strafed me at less than ten feet from behind.

The allure of Indigo Trail has been incredibly enticing, though yet to be explored.

The Willet above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

Too many birds at the refuge has been my concern for a photograph of the wildlife without a distraction in an image taken of a particular subject ideally engaging in behavioral action.

I'm not a fan of manipulating photographs beyond traditional means though desperately need to learn how to add canvas to an image which I hope to do in the near future.

The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

For returning visitors to my blog, I hope you find the new look appealing.

I'm grateful to Tim Rucci for his help with my Pbase style sheet while attempting to emulate it in this blog.

The Pied-billed Grebe above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of timing visits to venues nearby the Gulf of Mexico for the most part at a low or near low tide.

If you fail to do this, you may end up being disappointed.

The Brown Pelican above was photographed at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in March 2011.